byFather Robert M. O'Grady Pilot Staff
Father Arthur J. Driscoll Pilot file photo
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A well-known and high respected priest of the archdiocese, Father Arthur J. Driscoll died at Regina Cleri Residence, Boston on April 23, 2020. The Salem native was born on Sept. 24, 1928, the only child of the late Daniel and Ida (Ryan) Driscoll.
He attended Salem Public Schools, as he told The Pilot, "the only one in our neighborhood who did not attend St. James." In February 1945, his senior year at Salem High School, he entered St. John Seminary -- he was then 16 years old. During the World War II era, there were accelerated programs for talented students to enter college before completion of high school. He joked that he had to return to Salem that summer to get his high school diploma.
On Jan. 10, 1952, after less than seven years in the college and theology divisions of the seminary, he was ordained to the priesthood at Holy Cross Cathedral by Archbishop Richard Cushing. He believed that he was the youngest man ever ordained to the priesthood in the archdiocese -- 23 years, three months and 16 days!
His first assignment found him reunited with a former seminary faculty member, Msgr. Louis Cunney, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Wellesley. Msgr. Cunney was also a Salem native. During the two years at Wellesley, he undertook studies in biology at Boston College. The "permission" or at least tacit approval of the pastor would have been an absolute requirement, especially with Msgr. Cunney. However, as a former teacher of Father Driscoll and a fellow Salem native he probably encouraged and supported the endeavor.
In 1954, Father Driscoll was assigned as an assistant at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Chapel in Roxbury; two years later he was back in the seminary; this time on the other side of the desk as a professor of biology which he would teach for the following two decades, first at Cardinal O'Connell Seminary, Jamaica Plain, and then at St. Clement Hall at the seminary's main campus in Brighton. He would serve also as academic dean and then as dean of the college. He also taught natural science at Boston College and a generation of Jesuit seminarians recall his biology course at BC.
He was a great teacher -- any student of his knew that he knew his subject and that he loved the subject; and that he could get you both to learn and be interested as well. Another quality that marked him was his fairness. He treated all the seminarians alike. He more or less left the discipline to his longtime friend and classmate, Msgr. Thomas J. Daly freeing him to focus on academic performance. If you were doing your best, he patted you on the back; if he spotted ability being wasted he let you know directly offering a challenge to measure up your ability.
Although "politically incorrect" now, he was known for his pipes. He smoked them in his room; in classroom and laboratory; walking the campus. Science caught up with him and he surrendered the pipes in later years.
During his faculty years, he was also a regular weekend assistant at Immaculate Conception Parish, Revere. The parish then had the regular schedule of any urban parish and a parish elementary and high school. He was a supportive presence there.
Humberto Cardinal Medeiros named him pastor of St. Anne parish in Boston's Readville section in 1976. Not surprisingly he jumped in to the parish life with an enthusiasm befitting his youthful 47 years of age. With a parish school and multiple activities, he was picking up from his weekends at Revere. A highlight of his 13 years as pastor was the long expected completion of the parish church, heretofore just a basement church, to which the upper church was added; completed in 1982 the new church was solemnly dedicated by Cardinal Medeiros on May 30, 1982.
In 1989, Bernard Cardinal Law named him pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Andover. Again, he showed that he loved people and parish life, expanding programs and involving parishioners in all kinds of activities, parish productions and fairs.
He served the Andover parish for 12 years and was granted senior priest retirement status on Aug. 1, 2001. Still a very active 72-year-old, he lived initially in his family home and assisted regularly at St. Richard of Chichester Parish in Danvers. He was roundly applauded for his well prepared, concise homilies; and for his readiness to provide adult education programs. His excellence as a teacher had not diminished according to parishioners.
Ten years later he moved to Regina Cleri Residence in Boston where he died on April 23, 2020.
His Funeral Services were conducted at St. Mary Cemetery, Salem, where he was buried with his parents. His survivors include a list of cousins with whom he was close, among them Brother J. Robert Houlihan, CFX, of Xaverian House, Danvers.